Dennis Mortimer
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Dennis Mortimer | ||
Personal information | ||
---|---|---|
Full name | Dennis Mortimer | |
Date of birth | April 5, 1952 | |
Place of birth | Liverpool, England | |
Playing position | Midfielder | |
Club information | ||
Current club | Retired | |
Senior clubs1 | ||
Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
1969-1975 1975-1985 1985 1985-19?? |
Coventry City Aston Villa Brighton & Hove Albion Birmingham City |
192 (10) 317 (36) ? (?) ? (?) |
National team | ||
1978–1980 |
England U-23 England B |
3 (0) |
? (?)
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
Dennis Mortimer (born 5 April 1952 in Liverpool, England) was an English footballer and distinguished captain of Aston Villa.
Mortimer began his career with Coventry City, where he came through the ranks and made over 200 appearances as a promising midfielder. It was his accomplished displays for Coventry which attracted the attention of several top clubs, and he joined Villa in 1975. Mortimer captained Villa to the European Cup in 1982. A 1-0 over Bayern Munich in the De Kuip Stadium was courtesy of a Peter Withe goal. From 1975 to 1985 he made 403 appearances for Villa scoring 36 goals.
Mortimer was capped by England under-23 and England B but was never capped for the full England team.
After leaving Villa, Mortimer moved to Brighton but was only there a year before returning to the Midlands with Birmingham City, thereby breaking the second-city taboo by playing for City and Villa. During the 1988-89 season, Mortimer was player manager of non-league outfit Redditch United before moving into coaching, becoming assistant manager to Ossie Ardiles at West Bromwich Albion.
He worked for The Professional Football Associations as regional director of coaching in the Midlands area and has help to develop many of Englands top young players and coaches. Mortimer has been responsible for the progression of top young English coach Alex Penny. Mortimer is also a director at Wolverhampton Wanderers Women FC. Mortimer regularly attends Aston Villa games to this day and sometimes provides commentary on the club's games with the club's radio station, The Villain. He is regarded as one of Aston Villa's greatest ever players.